Download What military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles were

What military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles
were imposed on Germany?
The Allies imposed many military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that
Germany would never again pose a military threat. The Treaty of Versailles contained a
number of provisions to that end. Among them was the requirement that the
Rhineland became demilitarized to ensure Germany couldnˇt attack France. In
addition, no German troops were allowed to enter the Rhineland. Strict limits were
placed on the size of Germany's armed forces. It was restricted to 100,000 men. The
manufacture of military aircraft, tanks and submarines was prohibited. Furthermore,
the navy could only build 6 battle ships. The German government also had to ban
conscription- all soldiers had to be on a voluntary basis. This meant that people had
the choice to join the army instead of being forced.
Question: Explain why the ‘Big Threeˇ disagree over how to treat Germany.
The ‘Big Threeˇ disagreed on how Germany should be treated on many occasions. As
the talks at Versailles went on it became clear that the objectives and outcomes of the
Big Three were very different. This was mainly down to the fact that the Big Three had
different aims for the treaty. Clemenceau wanted the treaty to be very harsh. Whereas
Wilson, wanted the treaty to be fair and wanted world peace. However Lloyd George
was often in the middle ground between the two. He wanted Germany to be punished
but not harshly. Clemenceau clashed with Wilson over many issues. This was because
the USA had not suffered nearly as badly as France in the war because of the fact most
of the fighting took place on French soil. Furthermore, Clemenceau resented Wilsonˇs
more generous attitude to Germany. They disagreed over what to do about Germanyˇs
Rhineland and coalfields in the Saar. In the end, Wilson had to give way on these issues.
In return, Clemenceau and Lloyd George did give Wilson what he wanted in Eastern
Europe (which was self-determination), despite their opinions about his idea of selfdetermination. However, this mainly affected the other four treaties, not the Treaty of
Versailles. Clemenceau also clashed with Lloyd George, particularly over Lloyd
Georgeˇs aim- which was not to treat Germany too harshly. Clemenceau felt that the
British were quite happy to treat Germany fairly in Europe where France rather than
Britain was most under threat. However, they were less happy to allow Germany to
keep its navy and colonies, which would be more of a threat to Britain. Wilson and
Lloyd George did not always agree either. Lloyd George was particularly unhappy about
allowing all nations access to the seas. Similarly, Wilsonˇs view on self-determination
was threatening towards Britain as they had an empire which ruled millions of people
across the world.
Question: Germany was treated fairly at Versailles. How far do you agree with this
statement?
I do not agree with this statement to a certain extent. I believe that Germany was
treated unfairly at Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace settlement signed
after World War one had ended in 1918. Most of it was decided by 'The Big Three'
Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau. The Treaty of
Versailles was signed Versailles, Paris. The terms of the treaty were announced 7th
May horrified the German nation. Various factors contributed to this such as the loss
of territory and the reduction of armed forces. There were also other terms of the
treaty that angered the German nation. As a result of the harshness of the treaty
triggered the rise of the Nazis and in turn lead to World War two.
The treaty of Versailles was a diktat. This meant the Germans had no say whatsoever in
the initial planning and negotiation of the treaty. This was not at all fair on Germany or
the German people. The German people believed that the German government had
simply agreed to a ceasefire, and that therefore Germany should have been at the
Paris Peace Conference to negotiate with the Big Three over the terms of the treaty.
However this did not happen. Instead Germany had to sign the treaty of Versailles and
had no choice about it. Furthermore, Germany was not treated with respect or
authority which fuelled the anger of Germans. However, Woodrow Wilson wanted a
treaty without a victory and felt that if the treaty of Versailles was a dictated on
Germany, it could lead to another war. This is exactly what happened.
The war guilt clause also angered the German nation. The war guilt clause meant that
Germany had to accept the punishment and the blame for starting the First World War.
However, this bitterly unfair on Germany because of the fact they did not start the war.
This humiliated and destroyed German pride. Germany felt that at the very least that
the blame should be shared amongst all of those who also helped to start the First
World War. Germany was instead blamed for starting the war and was expected to
pay for all the damage caused by it in the form of reparations. However the Germany
economy was already in ruin. Which meant it would be impossible to pay the
reparations. German people feared that the reparations payments would cripple them.
The major powers agreed, without consulting Germany, that Germany had to pay
reparations to the allies for the damage caused by the war. The exact figure of the
reparations payments was £6600 million. This was an enormous figure which was
impossible for Germany to pay in the current state of its economy.lf the terms of the
reparations payments had not changed under the Young Plan in 1929; Germany would
not have stopped paying them until 1984. The German people were strongly against
the reparations not just because of the extreme price but because it was based on the
War Guilt Clause which Germany was strongly against because of the fact that they
had not started the war. ln addition the amount of reparations Germany had to pay
was ridiculous because of the fact its economy was already exhausted due to the First
World War. Lloyd George had noticed this and wanted Germany not to be treated too
harshly. He could predict another war appearing if the treaty of Versailles was too
harsh on the German people. This was proved to be correct. People had very little food
and feared that the reparations payments would cripple them. As a result of the
harshness
of both the war guilt clause and reparations payments this wouldˇve
resulted in another war.
The loss of territory also angered the German nation. Germanyˇs overseas empire was
taken away. lt had been one of the causes of bad relations between Britain and
Germany before the war. Former German colonies became mandates which were
controlled by the League of Nations, which meant that effectively France and Britain
controlled them. This also affected the German economy as now France and Britain
took away the colonies which were a vital source of money. As a result Germany could
no longer make money from colonies and instead Britain and France could expand their
empires across Europe and in Africa. France also regained Alsace Lorraine. Before the
war Germany had won this territory from France however under the treaty, it meant
that France could regain territory. Territories such as the Polish Corridor, Upper Silesia
and also West Prussia were given to Poland. This was 10% of Germanys land taken away
from them. ln addition industrial areas such as the Saar land was given to the French to
help France raise money to repair itself as most of the fighting had taken place on
French soil. The Saar land was also an important area of industry which was also seen as
a vital source of revenue. Germanys European borders were very extensive.
Furthermore, the treaty also forbade Germany to join with its former ally Austria. This
was also known as Anschluss. Germany lost 12.5% of its population as a result of the loss
of territory. This meant that whilst self-determination was given to countries such as
Estonia, it also meant that people in these areas were also mainly German. This meant
that German-speaking people were divided. This went against their idea of selfdetermination and further angered them and made the treaty unfair. Germany lost 16%
of its coalfields and almost half of its steel and iron industries. Under the treaty of
Versailles the Rhineland became demilitarized. This was done in the aim of stopping
Germany from attacking its neighbour France as they both shared borders. As a result
of this no German troops were allowed into the Rhineland. The loss of territory was a
massive factor which affected German pride. The territories which Germany lost were
vital sources of income. Now that they had been taken away, it made
paying
reparations even harder. It was made even worse as Danzig was given to Poland. This
was a port which wouldˇve been used for trade. Overall the loss of territory was a major
blow to German pride and to its economy.
The disarmament terms upset Germany. An army of 100,000 men was very small for a
country of Germanyˇs size. The army was also a symbol of German pride and strength.
Despite Wilsons fourteen points calling for disarmament of all countries, none of the
Allies disarmed to the extent that Germany was disarmed in the 1920s. This further
angered the German nation and made the treaty unfair. This was a major concern of
all powers especially France. Conscription was banned which meant that all recruits
had to be on a voluntary basis. Furthermore Germany was allowed to build armoured
vehicles, submarines or aircraft. This further weakened the German army. The navy
could only build six battleships. This meant that Germany would be weak at fighting at
sea and thus crippling the German army even more. Furthermore the Rhineland
became demilitarized. This meant that no German troops were allowed in that area.
This was an important piece of land as it was the border between Germany and
France. Germany was extremely angered about the terms of disarmament. This could
also lead to problems in the future. Furthermore, the reduction of armed forces was a
major blow to German pride and strength as now the German army was very small and
weak.
Germany was banned from joining the League of Nations until it had shown that it was
a peace-loving country. Germany felt humiliated and insulted as a result. To most
Germans, the treatment of Germany was not in keeping with Wilsons fourteen points.
Furthermore, while self-determination was given to countries such as Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania German speaking people were divided by the terms forbidding Anschluss
with Austria or hived off into new countries such as Czechoslovakia to be rule by nonGermans.
However the German complaints about the treaty fell on deaf ears. In particular, many
people felt that Germans were themselves operating a double standard. This meant
that they were being hypocritical with their comments towards the treaty. Their call
for a fairer treatment did not square with the harsh way they had treated Russia in
the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk in 1918. The Treaty of Versailles was a lot fairer compared
to the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk. Furthermore, most of Germanyˇs economical problems
also fell on deaf ears. This was because part of the economical problems had been self
inflicted. Other states raised taxes to pay for the way. However the Kaisers
government planned to pay war debts by extracting reparations from the defeated
states. This could not now happen as firstly the Kaiser abdicated into exile. Secondly,
because Germany had lost the war. However had Germany won the war, we get the
idea of what the treaty from Germany would have been. The first point is the treaty of
Brest- Litovsk, a very harsh treaty dictated by Germany and supported by the majority
of the Reichstag. This seems to point towards a potentially harsh treaty from the
Germans if they had won. Germany was also relying heavily on foreign loans, loans
that were only taken with the idea that they would pay them back from the losing
opponentˇs reparations. This suggests that they would also have demanded
reparations from the loser.
In conclusion I do not agree with this statement to a certain extent that Germany was
treated fairly at Versailles for various reasons. I agree that Germany was not treated
fairly at Versailles and that the treaty was harsh for various reasons. Firstly the treaty
was a diktat. This meant that Germany could not negotiate during the proceedings of
the treaty. But at first it was meant to be a cease-fire which meant that Germany could
have a say of their future. But a little while later the Big Three decided to exclude
Germany from the peace negotiations. However I think had Germany been able to
participate in the negotiations Germany wouldˇve agreed and accepted the terms of the
treaty and it would not cause problems for the future. Furthermore Germany was
banned from joining the League of Nations. This was very harsh and humiliated
Germany. I think if Germany had been able to join the League of Nations at an earlier
stage there wouldnˇt have been a big conflict between other countries at a later stage.
As a result of being excluded it led to bad communication between the League of
Nations and Germany. Also Germany wouldˇve had support from other countries that
were in the League of Nations. So if for example, there was a conflict between another
country. The League of Nations would help solve the problem without having a war. The
disarmament terms were also unfair. The restriction of the soldiers was the harshest. An
army of 100,000 men was far too small to defend a country the size of Germany. In
addition the army was a strong symbol of strength of pride. However because of the
treaty it was a major blow to both strength and the pride of Germans. Also it was an
outrage because of the fact no other country had disarmed to the
extent that
Germany had. However if Germany had been kept at any size it had liked, then another
war couldˇve quickly emerged. Also the reparations that Germany were expected to pay
wouldˇve crippled the country. This was made harder as main sources of revenue were
taken away in the form of territories and land which contained important industrial
areas such as the Saar land. The war guilt clause was also harsh for German people to
accept because of the fact that they had not started the war. I think at the very least
the war should be shared upon all of those who helped start the war. In addition, the
fact that Germany lost a lot of territory was unfair. This was because for example some
of the land that was given to Estonia contained a lot of German people in there. This
meant that German-speaking people had been divided and Germany lost a lot of its
population. However, land such as Alsace Lorraine was given back. This was a good thing
because of the fact this land was Frances before Germany had invaded it. Also the fact
that the Rhineland became demilitarized meant that Germany could not attack France
again.
However, all of the calls for a fairer treaty fell on deaf ears. This was mainly because it
was seen as hypocritical and showed the double standards of Germans who wanted a
fairer treaty. This was because of the treaty that Germany had given to Russia was
something even harsher than the Treaty of Versailles. It was also a diktat. But Germany
got off lightly with this treaty as it wasnˇt as harsh as the treaty of Brest-Livtosk.
However if Germany had received a treaty that wasnˇt as harsh then the German
people wouldnˇt have been outraged. As a result, the German people stored this
anger.
I believe that the harshest term of the treaty was the reparations payments. This is
because France and Britain demanded that Germany pay huge reparations that
further strained the German economy to well beyond the breaking point. Germany's
industry was destroyed, unemployment was through the roof, and the currency known
as the Mark was worthless. Hyperinflation added to the misery. Germany's cries for
relief from these harsh terms were rejected. The French and British knew full well that
that Germany couldn't possibly repay that amount of money - most of its industry was
concentrated in the Rhineland, which had been occupied by Allies. As a result of the
humiliation and the unfairness of this treaty, it allowed parties such as the Nazi party
to gain popularity. As a result Hitler was elected as chancellor and within a few years of
his reign he became a Fuhrer. Due to the fact this treaty was very harsh for people
living in Germany at the time such as Hitler, they wanted revenge. As a result World
War Two began in 1938.